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Locksmithing Basics for Enthusiasts

1) Locksmithing involves designing locks to prevent unauthorized access as well as techniques to bypass lock security. 2) The most common lock is the pin tumbler lock, which uses pins of varying heights that must be aligned by the key. 3) Locks have sequencing defects that allow them to be picked by setting the pins in the correct order rather than all at once.

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1K views27 pages

Locksmithing Basics for Enthusiasts

1) Locksmithing involves designing locks to prevent unauthorized access as well as techniques to bypass lock security. 2) The most common lock is the pin tumbler lock, which uses pins of varying heights that must be aligned by the key. 3) Locks have sequencing defects that allow them to be picked by setting the pins in the correct order rather than all at once.

Uploaded by

amberb
Copyright
© Attribution Non-Commercial (BY-NC)
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as PPT, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Overview of

Locksmithing
Splash! 2007 (November 18)
Sho Uemura ([email protected])
What is
locksmithing?
• The science and art of making and
defeating locks
• Lockpicking uses knowledge of lock
design
• Lock design uses knowledge of
lockpicking
Why study locks?

• Not because it’s useful (it’s not)

• Know the law and be ethical


Lock design
• The purpose of a lock is to make
something more accessible to the
owner than to attacker
• Convenience: minimize difficulties
for owner
• Security: maximize difficulties for
attacker
Principles of design
• Lock must be cheap and durable
• Lock must be easy and fast to open
• Key/combination must be easy to carry
• Design should be expandable

• Picking the lock must take time, training and


tools (the three T’s)

• Method of entry should not be reliable and


Lockpicking
• Every technique relies on one
weakness of the design: the
dominant imperfection
• Two methods: “mind” and “hand”
• “Mind”: fool the lock into thinking
you have the key
• “Hand”: use weaknesses in design
to bypass lock security
Pin tumbler lock

• Most common type of key lock


today
• Cheap, mass-produceable, durable,
compact
• Many variations, but basic principle
is the same
Pin tumbler
internals

• Key has cuts of varying depths


• Lock has spring-loaded pins that contact the
key

• If all pins are at the correct heights, cylinder


turns
The sequencing
defect
• Locks are designed to test
key/combination at multiple points
simultaneously
• Imperfect manufacture -> some
points are tested before others
• Guess each point in sequence to
pick a lock
• 100000 combinations, but only 50
guesses
Picking a pin
tumblerarelock
Ideal lock: all pins
same size, and
holes are in a
straight line; all
pins must be set at
the same time
Reality: someto
open
pins will lock
bind in
their holes before
others; this
creates a
sequence in
which the pins
How to crack a lock

• Bypass the lock


• Use “magic”
• Decoding
Opening locks with
magic: bumpkeying

• Hit the bottom of a pair of pins, and


the top pin bounces up; a gap is
created
• Hit all the pins at once, and the
gaps allow the cylinder to turn!
Bypassing a lock

• Push the bolt back: shimming (for


padlocks), carding and sliding (for
doors)
• Remove the lock
• Open door from inside
Shortcuts
• Drill holes in a lock to see
combination or break pins
• “Read” previously dialed
combination
• Research lock type - limited
combinations, preset combinations,
key cut depths
• Skeleton keys
Common design
improvements
• Sidebars
• Security pins
• Pin-in-pin locks
• Tubular pin tumbler lock
Tubular lock
• Same principle as pin
tumbler, but pins lie in a
circle
• Advantage: lock must be
picked 6-8 times to unlock
• Disadvantage: pins are
more exposed
• Flaw: Impressioning
Impressioning a
tubular lock
Multiple-dial
combination lock

• Combination is a string of dial


positions
• Bolt has teeth touching dials
• Correct combination aligns gates in
dials with the bolt
Multiple-dial
combination lock
• Sequencing: Since the bolt contacts
some wheels before others, each
wheel’s gate can be found to open
the lock
• Decoding: A thin piece of plastic
can feel the gates in the wheels
directly
Single-dial
combination lock

• Cheap, simple; very popular


• Can be very secure; used in most
safes
Single-dial
combination lock
• Combination is
series of dial
rotations
• Dial pushes
wheels inside lock
• Correct
combination
aligns each wheel
with fence
Lock manipulation
• Uses the sequencing defect
• Ideally, all wheels contact the fence
• If one wheel sticks out, the fence
will drop down at that wheel’s gate;
this identifies that wheel’s
combination
• Repeat for all wheels to get
combination
Warded lock

• Oldest type of lock (Ancient Rome)


• Easy and cheap to make
• Insecure
Inside a warded
lock

• Key has notches of varying shapes


in varying places
• Lock has wards blocking the key’s
path
• If notches correspond to wards, key
can rotate through to push a bolt
Lever tumbler lock

• Evolved from warded lock


• Chubb detector lock is still one of
the best locks ever designed
• Complex, bulky, fragile and
expensive
Lever tumbler lock

• Key has bittings of varying heights


• Lock has levers with cuts in varying
positions
• Bolt is released when all levers are
raised to the correct position
Further reading

• MIT Guide to Lockpicking


• Wikipedia
• OldLocks.com
• “Locks, Safes and Security” by Marc
Weber Tobias
• Crypto.com - Matt Blaze

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